“To be a good lawyer, one has to be a healthy lawyer. Sadly, our profession is falling short when it comes to well-being. The two studies referenced above reveal that too many lawyers and law students experience chronic stress and high rates of depression and substance abuse. These findings are incompatible with a sustainable legal profession, and they raise troubling implications for many lawyers’ basic competence.” (emphasis added).

The report includes recommendations for various stakeholder groups connected to the profession. My blog post on the Task Force’s recommendations is here.

Last week, and in response to the report, the Vermont Supreme Court created the Vermont Commission on the Well-Being of the Legal Profession. The Commission’s first meeting is later this month. The Commission includes a representative from each of the stakeholder groups identified in the Task Force’s report. Each representative will lead a sub-committee charged with reviewing the recommendations targeted at that stakeholder group. The Commission will be formally introduced at a plenary session during the Vermont Bar Association’s Midyear Meeting in March.

I expect that you’ll hear a lot about the Commission, its work, and lawyer wellness throughout 2018.

In the meantime, don’t forget that lawyer wellness isn’t all about rehab or treatment. It also includes things like work-life balance and mindfulness.

Jeena Cho is legal mindfulness strategist. She’s a leading voice on lawyer wellness. She’s a great Twitter follow and writes often for the ABA Journal.

One of Jeena’s sayings sticks with me. As I referenced in my post recommending that lawyers Make Time For What Matters, Jeena tells us:

Maybe mediation isn’t your thing. Maybe it’s running, or reading, or playing an instrument, or cross-country skiing, or doing puzzles, or cooking, or crafts, or coaching, or hiking, or . . . whatever. Something other than work!

Whatever it is, in 2018, resolve to find a few minutes a day to focus on your own well-being.